Around The League - Bill Walton passes from cancer at 71

[paulpressey25]

Jrue came up big tonight

Came here to give Jrue his praise. His numbers were great but bigger than that he had Haliburton shooketh late in that game. Not rooting for either team but rooting for Jrue for sure.

Year one of the Dame trade has not gone well for us. Realize that's an unpopular opinion in these parts.

We just need to have years two and three go better for this thing to work out.

[paulpressey25]

You know the old saying, "Better to be lucky, face no real healthy competition until the Finals, and be gifted a 30 to 10 FT disparity, than good."

ESPN talking heads telling me that Indy just doesn't drive to the hoop much to initiate contact.

[Ron Swanson]

Jrue came up big tonight

Came here to give Jrue his praise. His numbers were great but bigger than that he had Haliburton shooketh late in that game. Not rooting for either team but rooting for Jrue for sure.

Year one of the post-Bud era has not gone well for us.

Fixed. I get that the Bill Simmons confirmation bias narrative of "Boston won the Dame trade" is hard to shake when the C's are on the verge of a Finals berth while we're sitting at home, but I just don't get how you're not seeing how much worse of a disaster this looks if we don't make that trade. Sexton/Jrue/Middleton/Giannis/Brook or *insert whatever above-average guard instead of a Sexton/Rozier type* isn't changing the calculus of this season's outcome with dip **** Griffin and only the slight upgrade in Doc at the helm. And who knows, maybe Giannis still hasn't extended....

[soboMP3]

I am so looking forward to Boston getting gentlemen-swept by the Wolves.

[paulpressey25]

And who knows, maybe Giannis still hasn't extended....

This is the most important point of your post. If we believe the conventional wisdom, we not only had to fire Bud, but trade for Dame to get that extension signed. I believe that to be true, and getting Giannis to sign is/was the number one priority.

However, in the fan discussion bubble, not accounting for the elephant in the room of Giannis extension, I don't think the Dame trade is going to work out for us on a global level (not just the Jrue to Boston part). But again, this stuff cycles. Next year Dame could come back with a vengeance, and a revamped Bucks roster.

[JayMKE]

Hard to imagine the season going worse than it did with Jrue instead of Dame, I think the team is probably better in the regular season so its possible Griffin doesn't get fired the way he did and thus no Doc midseason but Doc was going to be a top candidate whenever we moved off Griff. Giannis signed his extension, that's the saving grace. How do you guys think Dame would have done in Miami? Are they still playing? How would have the trade been graded for them? What about Boston without Jrue?

[Matches Malone]

Kind of sad we won't have these guys anymore unless some miracle deal is struck. A lot of people still watch NBA games just for this show (which is crazy to think). But Silver and the NBA are okay with the Stephen A Smith's, the Kendrick Perkins and the Windhorst's of the world covering his league...

Read on Twitter

[JayMKE]

I think there is a good chance that Chuck, Shaq, & maybe Kenny end up on ESPN or NBC eventually not necessarily together. Ernie I doubt will ever leave Turner.

hopefully nobody hires Reggie Miller

[BUCKnation]

I'm still fine with the Dame trade. I think were in a bad way with Jrue. He's been a non-factor all playoffs until last night and was outright bad in the Heat series. Much easier to randomly pop up and have a nice game when you are the 4th/5th option than to be relied upon as the 2nd/3rd option. We have 3 years of Jrue playoff pitfalls outside of a few iconic moments here or there. It wasn't like he slowed down Hali at all until he self-destructed with a minute left. Dame was also excellent against the Pacers.

I also think it's underreported how bad the Blazers did with that follow up trade. They got relatively lucky the Warriors weren't great for this years pick and they are banking on the Celtics to be bad in 29 at this point, which seems unlikely with the J's locked up for the foreseeable future. They are basically getting a 0 from the players they received in return.

[Dick Tate]

This year did not go well for us. Realize that's an unpopular fact in these parts.

[Fotis St]

I am more worried about Giannis than Dame actually. We love Giannis cause of who he is and how he got us a ring BUT, he hasn't played playoff basketball for 2 years in row.
One year he flipped mid air turning his back to lay the ball to the rim while Love tackled him and landed hard on his back and this year he played injured to stop a 4 L streak and lost the playoffs again. At some point he has to mature enough to control his availability. He literally griefs himself and Bucks Org and Thanasis have either stopped telling him what to do or Giannis doesn't listen to anyone anymore.

[paulpressey25]

I also think it's underreported how bad the Blazers did with that follow up trade.

True. We only talk about Milwaukee or Boston. Could they have gotten more for Jrue? Don't know.

That said, controlling the Bucks draft from 2028-2030 is where this thing will be judged for the Blazers. For us it's the years we have Dame under contract.

[soxperry]

Kind of sad we won't have these guys anymore unless some miracle deal is struck. A lot of people still watch NBA games just for this show (which is crazy to think). But Silver and the NBA are okay with the Stephen A Smith's, the Kendrick Perkins and the Windhorst's of the world covering his league...

Read on Twitter

Yes, it is the final season of TNT's Inside the NBA. We already knew that

Seems likely that most of the crew will end up somewhere else.

I just realized that i haven't really watched inside the nba since 2021, so... Meh

[Bernman]

I'm still fine with the Dame trade. I think were in a bad way with Jrue. He's been a non-factor all playoffs until last night and was outright bad in the Heat series. Much easier to randomly pop up and have a nice game when you are the 4th/5th option than to be relied upon as the 2nd/3rd option. We have 3 years of Jrue playoff pitfalls outside of a few iconic moments here or there. It wasn't like he slowed down Hali at all until he self-destructed with a minute left. Dame was also excellent against the Pacers.

I also think it's underreported how bad the Blazers did with that follow up trade. They got relatively lucky the Warriors weren't great for this years pick and they are banking on the Celtics to be bad in 29 at this point, which seems unlikely with the J's locked up for the foreseeable future. They are basically getting a 0 from the players they received in return.

I think the Bucks' mistake was not steering him to the west by facilitating the inclusion of another team in the trade that actually wanted Jrue. On paper, at the time, he'd have been a great fit for the Mavs.

But this season it didn't make any difference because the Bucks failed to advance. It may lead to regret in the near future. Though Jrue putzed it up against the Bucks in the regular season.

[Gant]

I'm still fine with the Dame trade. I think were in a bad way with Jrue. He's been a non-factor all playoffs until last night and was outright bad in the Heat series. Much easier to randomly pop up and have a nice game when you are the 4th/5th option than to be relied upon as the 2nd/3rd option. We have 3 years of Jrue playoff pitfalls outside of a few iconic moments here or there. It wasn't like he slowed down Hali at all until he self-destructed with a minute left. Dame was also excellent against the Pacers.

What you say about Jrue Holiday being a lower option is true. That's lowered his usage and per game stats, which is why his impact is subtle. But...

He's been far from a non-factor in the playoffs. Aside from stellar defense, he's shooting the highest playoff TS% of his career. He's picking his spots to be a scorer, upping his volume as needed. Plus he's settling the Celtics down in an antiMarcusSmart way. He's second on the team with a +114 in these playoffs (Tatum first at +126).

According to this article, last night with Jrue Holiday as the primary defender, Haliburton went 0-3, with 0 points, 3 assists and 2 turnovers. Against everyone else he was 8-15, with 25 points. 7 assists, and 1 turnover.

https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/nba/boston-celtics/celtics-pacers-jrue-holiday-tyrese-haliburton-defense/615115/

[Sigra]

So, from players still playing, only Irving, Siakam and Jrue have ring (each of them 1). And Carlisle from coaches.

Is that right?

[Matches Malone]

Kind of sad we won't have these guys anymore unless some miracle deal is struck. A lot of people still watch NBA games just for this show (which is crazy to think). But Silver and the NBA are okay with the Stephen A Smith's, the Kendrick Perkins and the Windhorst's of the world covering his league...

Read on Twitter

Yes, it is the final season of TNT's Inside the NBA. We already knew that

Seems likely that most of the crew will end up somewhere else.

I just realized that i haven't really watched inside the nba since 2021, so... Meh

[tydett]

Let's just conveniently forget Jrue getting ragdolled by Jimmy last year and how he would've been forced into being a first/second option on offense along with having to provide the same defense on Haliburton without Giannis this year. Like, causality isn't assured, but it seems like people forget that there's a reason that Bud got fired and Jrue got traded after last year's playoffs disaster.

[JonHeist]

Hard to imagine the season going worse than it did with Jrue instead of Dame

assuming giannis still gets hurt, I find it very hard to imagine it going any better lol

pacers probably would have swept us if dame didn't carry us to a game one win

[JimmyTheKid]

I mean Giannis didn't log a single playoff minute. Dame missed time. Our first championship in half a century came on the heels of a pretty meh regular season. Healthy-ish Dame/Khris/Giannis could have done that again this year. Anything short of Boston winning a title and the jury is still out on the trade(s). Not sure why Bucks fans want to do this to themselves right now.